


Lightspeed Emergency?

by Angel_Negra



Series: Lightspeed Family Series [3]
Category: Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-15
Updated: 2011-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-15 16:56:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/162903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_Negra/pseuds/Angel_Negra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even Junior Rangers need back-up sometimes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lightspeed Emergency?

**Author's Note:**

> Set after 'Trakeena's Revenge', thanks to Cally for the beta!

Carter rang the doorbell and before he could even lower his hand, the door swung open.

"Oh, thank goodness!"

Carter blinked and smiled hesitantly, "Hi, Mrs. Giordano."

"Come in, come in," said Mrs. Giordano, stepping aside. "I can't thank you enough for doing this, Carter. With Heather's regular baby-sitter being too young and well- We just couldn't bring Heather along for this."

Carter nodded while she talked. "I'm glad I could help. I-"

"Carter!"

Carter barely had time to take in the sight of Heather running for him at top speed before she was clinging to his waist, hugging him as hard as she could. Carter chuckled, "Hey, Heather." He wrapped one arm around her, using his free arm to drop his overnight bag out of the way. "Did you pass your math test?"

"I got the second highest score!" said Heather, grinning up at him.

Carter grinned back, "That's awesome!"

"Simon beat me though." She made a face.

It took Carter a second to connect the name Simon to Simon Barnes. "Hey, it's not his fault he's a genius," he said, squeezing Heather's shoulder.

"I know..." sighed Heather, rolling her eyes.

Mrs. Giordano cleared her throat, "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to tell Carter a few more things, okay, Heather?" She gave Carter an amused look.

"Okay, Mommy," said Heather, not loosening her grip on Carter. Carter suppressed a snort.

Mrs. Giordano shook her head. "I left Tim's cellphone number on the fridge. I was going to leave a list of emergency numbers, but..."

"I work with most of them," finished Carter with a grin.

"Exactly," she nodded, and led the way into the living room.

Carter moved to follow, but Heather wouldn't let go. He looked down at her with a sigh. She grinned up at him. Carter caved. "Okay, stand on my foot."

Heather giggled and stepped onto his left foot. Much better. Carter's gait was awkward thanks to the added weight, but she wasn't that heavy.

Mrs. Giordano smiled when she saw Carter and Heather enter the living room. "We've got the spare room all aired out for you." She pointed down the hallway on her left. "It's across from Heather's room. Um, there's plenty of food, and I put some emergency money in the blue tin by the sink."

"We should be okay," said Carter, nodding. "I'm a pretty good cook."

Heather tugged at his shirt. "Can you make pancakes?"

"One of my specialties!"

"Hopefully, or well-" Mrs. Giordano rubbed her forehead. "We should be back Sunday, unless everything gets worse."

Carter nodded again. "We should be okay. If there are any monster attacks, Ensign Thomas and Lieutenant Brown live nearby. One of them will take Heather to the base until it's over. If that's okay with you?"

Mrs. Giordano nodded. "If you trust them, I trust them."

"Anna?" said Mr. Giordano as he dragged two suitcases into the room. "Are you ready?"

Mrs. Giordano looked around the room, nodding distractedly. "Yes. Yes, I think so..." She picked up one of the suitcases and headed for the door, Mr. Giordano right behind her. Heather gripped Carter's waist a bit tighter and he quickly followed her parents.

Mrs. Giordano got the door open and then put her suitcase down. She turned and held out her arms to Heather. Heather darted forward, hugging her mother tightly. Mr. Giordano held his hand out to Carter.

"Thanks again for this. Anna and I will call once we get to Stone Canyon."

Carter nodded. "Sounds good, sir."

Mr. Giordano smiled and bent to give Heather a hug. Then he picked up the suitcases and took them out to the car parked in the driveway. Mrs. Giordano gave Heather a final hug and followed her husband, pulling the car keys out of her purse.

Heather slipped her hand into Carter's as they watched her parents' car pull out of the driveway. Once the car was out of sight, Carter gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Did you eat yet?" he said, looking down at her.

Heather shook her head. "Mommy and Daddy were too busy packing."

Carter closed the front door. "I haven't eaten yet either. Any suggestions?"

"Pancakes?" she asked hopefully, giving him a bright, toothy grin.

He chuckled, walking towards the kitchen. "How about we save those for the morning?" Heather hadn't let go of his hand yet, and Carter figured she'd had a rough enough night that she needed the comfort.

"Okay..." Heather sighed.

Entering the kitchen, Carter reached down and picked Heather up, sitting her on the counter. Heather giggled and wiggled back a bit. "Okay, let's see..." he said, pulling open the fridge door.

There was a package of ground beef on the second shelf. That could work. "Do you want hamburgers?"

"Yeah!"

"Me too," Carter nodded and pulled out the package. He made sure to grab an egg while he was at it. Placing the hamburger on the counter beside Heather, he gave her the egg. "Hold this, please." He started opening cupboards at random, trying to figure out where Mrs. Giordano would keep the bowls.

"An egg?" Carter glanced over to see Heather staring at the egg, nose wrinkled in confusion.

"Trust me." He pulled open another door and grinned. Found the crackers at least! He placed the box beside the meat, trying not to laugh at the look Heather was giving him.

"I don't think Mommy ever made hamburgers with cracker buns..." she said slowly.

Carter grinned. It was a good logical path, even if it was wrong. He made a note to use it as an argument point when Joel started another of his 'Simon's the smartest kid ever' gushes. "They're not for the buns, Heather." He opened another door. Ha! Found the bowls.

Placing it on the counter, he grabbed the rolling pin off its two hooks. He paused, checking over his ingredients. Nodding to himself, he grabbed the salt and pepper shakers. He rifled through a few drawers before finally finding the wax paper. Tearing off a sheet, he turned towards Heather; and found himself on the receiving end of one of the most suspicious looks ever.

He rolled his eyes. "I know what I'm doing, you know," he said, resisting the urge stick his tongue out at her. He placed the sheet of wax paper beside Heather, and then moved to wash his hands.

"So," said Heather, as Carter wiped his hands on a dish towel, "all this stuff goes in with the hamburger?"

Carter grinned proudly. Smartest kid ever. "Yeah. It's good, too. Here." He handed her the rolling pin with one hand and held out his other hand. "Give me the egg. Now, what I need you to do is use the rolling pin to crush a bunch of crackers for me."

"Okay," said Heather, grabbing the box of crackers. "How many?"

Carter eyed the ground beef as he dumped it into the bowl. "At least ten."

Heather nodded, and upended the box on the counter; she started counting out crackers. Carter shook his head and cracked the egg against the side of the bowl. Tossing in a couple pinches of salt and pepper, he used his hands to start mixing up the ingredients. Heather started crushing the crackers and Carter found himself mixing in time with the crunching.

"Done- Hey! You're using your hands!" Heather was looking at him like he was crazy.

"Hey, I washed them!"

Heather just looked at him.

Carter rolled his eyes. "It's fun. Dump the crackers in and you can try it."

"Okay..." Heather picked up the edges of the wax paper and tilted it, sending the cracker crumbs into the bowl. Carter picked the bowl up, holding it out of the way while Heather crawled across the counter towards the sink.

"All right, you finish mixing this and I'll get a plate," said Carter, once she was done.

Heather wrinkled her nose as she stuck her hands into the bowl. "It feels slimy."

"That's the egg," said Carter, rinsing his hands quickly. He started opening cupboards again, trying to remember where he'd seen the plates. "The egg and the crackers help to keep the hamburgers from shrinking."

"I don't think Mommy knows that," said Heather, who was picking up handfuls of hamburger mix and squeezing it through her fingers. "Every time she makes hamburgers, they all get so small that we have to have spaghetti and meatballs."

Carter chuckled. "Hey, spaghetti can be fun- There they are!" He pulled out a large plate, and caught Heather's look. "What?"

"You could have asked me where Mommy keeps the plates," she said, grinning at him.

"Hey, I found them, didn't I?"

Heather stuck her tongue out at him. Carter snorted and did the same.

"Now what?" said Heather, grinning up at him.

"Now we make hamburgers," said Carter. He scooped out some of the meat mix. "Make a ball, like this. Then squish it."

"Then stick it on the plate," finished Heather, nodding.

Definitely the smartest kid ever. "Yep."

Heather rolled up a ball of meat mix, squished it and placed it proudly on the plate.

"Awesome," said Carter. "How about some some vegetables with this?" he asked, scooping out more meat.

Heather nodded. "But no broccoli," she said, wrinkling her nose. "It's gross."

Ugh. Carter wrinkled his nose too. "Yeah. It is." They shared an understanding grin. "What about carrots?"

Heather cocked her head to the side, thinking, and squished her hamburger ball into a patty. "Okay. Can we have brownies for dessert?"

Carter nodded. "Sure. Did your mom just make some?"

"Uh-huh. They're hiding in the flour tin so Daddy won't eat them in his sleep again."

Carter suppressed a snort and placed the last hamburger patty onto the plate. "Okay, we're done. Do you want to set the table while I cook these?"

Heather nodded, then looked at first her hands then the counter. She chewed her lip for a second then looked up at Carter with a grin. "Can you wash your hands first and move me to the sink, please?"

"Good idea," said Carter, grinning. It only took a few seconds for him to rinse his hands off and slide Heather over so she could wash hers. While she was doing that, Carter pulled down plates and cups for her, then carried the plate of hamburgers over to the stove.

"Mommy keeps the frying pan in the big drawer under the stove."

Carter looked over his shoulder to see Heather giving him a toothy grin. He resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at her. "Thank you, Heather."

As Carter pulled out the frying pan, he heard the thump of Heather jumping off the counter and the clinking of dish-ware. He turned on the burner and realized he'd forgotten to get a spatula. Sighing, Carter turned and jumped at something red appeared almost under his nose.

Heather gave him a smile as he took the spatula from her. "Can we play chess after supper?"

"Sure. Have you been practicing?"

Heather began pulling out silverware from a drawer. "Yup. Mommy can't let me win anymore, because I win too fast."

Carter chuckled. After less than a month of playing, too? Totally the smartest kid.

***

Three rounds of chess later, the phone rang. Carter got it on the second ring. "Giordano residence."

"Hello, Carter."

"Oh, hi, Mrs. Giordano," said Carter. He saw Heather perking up out of the corner of his eye. "Is everything all right?"

Mrs. Giordano sighed. "So far, everything's about what we expected. Tim's dealing with the doctors right now. I thought I should call and let you two know that we got here."

Carter nodded. "That's good- that it's not any worse, I mean. Would you like to talk to Heather?"

"All right. Thank you, Carter."

Carter held the phone out to Heather and she quickly grabbed it and held it to her ear. "Guess what, Mommy? I beat Carter at chess and he didn't even let me win, because he won the last two games." She paused and nodded at something Mrs. Giordano said. "I know... Uh-huh... I promise." Heather grinned. "I love you too, Mommy. Night!" Heather hung up the phone. She smiled up at Carter. "Can we play another game of chess? Please?"

Carter glanced at the clock and blinked. When did it get to be nine o'clock? He shook his head. "I don't think so, Heather. You should probably get ready for bed."

"Please?" Heather grabbed Carter's hand in both of hers and looked up at him with big, imploring eyes.

"Heather..."

"Or you could read me a story!" Heather's imploring look had a bit of a desperate edge to it.

Carter narrowed his eyes at her and crouched down to her level. He gripped her arms gently and said, "Heather? What's wrong?"

Heather bit her lip and stared down at her hands. "You won't believe me."

"Hey," said Carter, rubbing her arms. "I believed you about the monster who took your Mom."

Heather looked at him hopefully and took a deep breath. "There's a bat monster in my room," she said. "It always hides when Mommy and Daddy check the room. But they yell first, so I think it hears them. And they don't believe me. They think its nightmares. But it's not, Carter!" Heather bit her lip. "I know it's not."

Bat monster. Carter wasn't sure, but it could be a Batling. Heather was close to him, and by extension, the other Rangers. Queen Bansheera and Olympius could have Heather's house under watch. He met Heather's gaze and nodded. "I believe you."

"Really?" Heather stared at him in surprise. Carter nodded. She smiled and hugged him. She pulled back and tilted her head. "Are we going to call the other Rangers and get the monster now?"

Carter considered his options. There was a good chance it was a Batling, but it could also just be Heather's imagination. But if she was right... "Not exactly," he said slowly. "But we are going to get them on standby."

"We? We're going to fight the monster?" Heather looked both scared and excited.

"You have to promise to do exactly what I say," said Carter seriously. "No matter what, okay?"

Heather nodded. "I promise."

"Good." Carter took a deep breath. "Do you have a water gun?"

"Yup," said Heather. Then she made a face. "It's pink, though."

Carter smiled. "What's wrong with pink?"

"Red's better," she said decisively.

Thinking of Dana's fighting skills, Carter said, "Pink's a pretty good colour."

"You have to say that," said Heather, looking at him skeptically. "Otherwise Dana will kick your butt."

Carter snorted, leaning closer to Heather. "Just don't tell her that, okay?" he whispered and gave her a wink.

Heather giggled.

"Okay, where's your water gun?" asked Carter, standing up.

"Bathroom."

Carter nodded. "Grab it and fill it up, then meet me back here. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" Heather saluted then darted for the bathroom.

Shaking his head in amusement, Carter lifted his morpher up. "Chad," he said, pausing to let the morpher make the connection to Chad's morpher. "Chad, wake up."

There was a yawn. Chad always went to bed earlier than the rest of them. "Carter?" asked Chad sleepily. "Carter! What's wrong?" There were some scrambling sounds, then a distant thunk. A faint 'ow' from Joel could be heard.

Carter swallowed a laugh. "Look, it may be nothing, but I need you guys down here on standby."

"What's going on?" Joel this time, sounding worried.

"If we're lucky," said Carter, "it's nothing, or just a Batling. But there's a chance it could be a demon. Heather's been hearing it in her room."

Joel sighed, sounding tired. "Man, what happened to the days when the closet monster wasn't real?"

"We'll get the girls and be there in ten minutes," said Chad.

Carter nodded. "5544 Norwich Street."

"Right."

Heather ran up, holding up her water gun. "Done."

"Okay." Carter crouched down to her level again. "You let me go in first. If anything jumps out, you squirt it and get out of the way fast, got it?"

Heather nodded. "But, what if it's just clothes?"

"Well, there's just water in the gun, right?" Carter shrugged. "It'll be dry by morning, then."

"Okay." Heather wrapped both her hands around the water gun's grip. "Ready."

At least she was using both hands. "Hang on a sec," he said, gently taking her hands. He pulled her left hand off the water gun. "Use this hand to cup the bottom of the water gun and your right hand. You'll shoot better this way." He moved Heather's hand into the right position.

Heather stared at her hands for a minute, like she was memorizing this. Then she nodded. "Okay, really ready." She gave him a small smile.

"All right," said Carter. He stood up. "Follow me."

Carter eased his way down the hallway and paused when they got to Heather's room. He paused at the door and took a breath. He glanced back to check on Heather. She nodded and he nodded back before slowly easing the door open. He thought he could hear a faint shuffling from inside the closet. He gripped the closet door's handle and lifted up three fingers for Heather to see.

He lowered them one by one. Three, two, one. He wrenched the door open and shouted, "Hold it right there!"

The Batling shrieked and swung at him. Carter caught its arm, struggling to keep the blade away from his face.

"Ha!" shouted Heather. She sprayed the Batling in the face. It stumbled back slightly, chittering loudly.

"Outside! Now!" Carter tightened his grip on the Batling's arm. It squealed again and Carter hit it in the face. He barely heard Heather running for help. He spun the Batling, slamming it into the wall. It shoved him back and made for the door.

Carter lunged desperately and grabbed one of its wings. He yanked it back hard. It spun around and Carter punched it in the stomach. It punched him in the head and Carter's vision blurred momentarily. The Batling ran for the door and fell back hard. Kelsey slashed her leg down, hitting it in the stomach.

"And stay down," she said with a snarl.

*

Dana dabbed at the cut on Carter's forehead and he winced at the sting. "Ow," he said.

"All better," said Dana. She looked over at Heather and smiled warmly. "Hardly any damage. You're good back up, Heather."

Heather smiled briefly before darting over to Carter's side again and wrapping both of her arms around his waist. Carter dropped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. "Yeah," he said to her softly. "You were very brave. Thank you."

"Okay," said Joel, walking out of the master bedroom. "We scanned the place from top to bottom. We're all clear. No more Batlings, or demons, in the place." He gave Heather a reassuring grin. "For real this time."

Heather nodded and then buried her face in Carter's stomach. He rubbed her shoulder gently. "Have Chad and Kelsey finished the scan of the neighbourhood yet?"

"They radioed a minute ago," said Joel. "Just finished the first run through. The rest of the Lightspeed crew just got here, so they're going to start the deeper search now."

Miss Fairweather walked into the house and nodded to Dana, holding up a case with the Lightspeed Rescue insignia on it. "Speaking of," said Dana. "Miss Fairweather is here, so we need to check over Heather." She bent down to Heather's level. "Okay? I promise it won't hurt one bit." She held out her hand.

Heather looked up at Carter first. He gave her an encouraging nod. She bit her lip and took Dana's hand, letting herself be led off.

Joel sighed heavily and leaned against the wall beside Carter. "Man, this sucks," he said.

Carter nodded. "We're going to have to speed up the schedule on the emergency tunnels for the suburbs."

"Yeah..." Joel nodded slowly. "Any luck getting a hold of her parents yet?"

"I left a message, but it's pretty late."

"Where are they again? Angel Grove?"

Carter shook his head. "Stone Canyon."

"Huh."

"What?" Carter glanced over at Joel curiously.

Joel waved a hand in dismissal. "Ah, it's nothing. Just some hot shot scientist that Miss F was trying to recruit lives there. Alex Trot-something or other."

"Oh?" Carter chuckled. "Don't tell me you're jealous."

Joel snorted. "No! Besides, he's been around the science fields forever. He's probably ancient."

"And ugly," said Carter, patting Joel on the shoulder. "With a bad comb over."

"Exactly," said Joel, grinning. "And I bet he's got false teeth. And those geeky, thick glasses."

Shaking his head, Carter smiled. "No woman would ever go for that, even if he was smarter than you."

Joel gave him a dirty look. "Pushing it," he said warningly.

Kelsey came into the house and made her way over to them. "Okay, Chad's still with the main search teams, but so far, we're not turning up anything."

"You think it was just because of her helping us with Triskull?" said Carter, folding his arms.

"Maybe," said Kelsey with a shrug.

"We should check up with other people who have connections to us," said Joel. "Family and friends in the city."

"Those in the suburbs are more likely targets," said Carter. "Less monitoring equipment's up."

"I'll get Franklin and Nash to start collecting a list," Joel said, pulling out his radio and walking towards the door.

It didn't take much longer to clear the house. Both Carter and Heather got hugs from Dana and Kelsey before they left. Once it was just Carter and Heather again, he gave her a hug before going to turn out the lights in the kitchen and the dining room.

"Carter?" said Heather quietly.

Carter turned and knelt down to her level. "What's wrong, Heather?"

"Could we play another game of chess before we go to bed?" she asked, chewing at her lip.

Carter studied her for a couple of seconds. She looked tired, frazzled and more than a little frightened. He gave her a gentle smile. "I really think we should go to bed," he said. "But," he leaned closer to her, "I still feel a bit scared from everything that happened."

Heather stared at him in surprise. "You were scared too?"

"Yeah," said Carter, nodding. "I was hoping we could camp out in the living room together. So we'll have back up, just in case."

She nods emphatically. "And I'll get my water gun to protect you, okay?"

Carter smiled. "Sounds great. Now, come on, let's get the sleeping bags out."

They got the sleeping bags out and Carter moved the furniture around to give them space. Heather rolled out the sleeping bags themselves while Carter organized some flashlights. Once everything was ready, Carter tucked Heather into her sleeping bag before climbing into his own.

He was just starting to relax when Heather rolled onto her side and asked, "Carter?"

"Yeah, Heather?"

"Am I going to marry you when I grow up?"

Carter blinked in surprise for a moment, not quite sure what to say to that. "I doubt it," he said slowly. "You're going to find an awesome person your own age that you're going to love like crazy."

"Are you sure?" Heather sounded extremely skeptical.

"Promise," said Carter firmly, suppressing a smile.

Heather sighed heavily. "Okay, if you say so. But boys my age are dumb." She sounded rather annoyed.

"Even Simon?" asked Carter, only half teasing her.

She made a disgusted noise. "He's too busy running away from all the older girls who keep trying to kiss him."

Carter laughed. "Good night, Heather."

"Night Carter." She lay back down for a second, then sat back up again. "Carter?"

"Yeah?"

"If I can't marry you, can I at least join the Rangers when I'm old enough?"

"Well, you're a Junior Ranger, aren't you?" asked Carter.

"Yeah."

Carter smiled, crossing his arms behind his head. "Then of course you're going to be a Ranger."

"Any colour I want?"

"I thought you wanted to be the Pink Ranger?" said Carter, trying hard not to laugh.

"No!" said Heather indignantly. "I want to be the Red Ranger. Like you."

Carter felt a rush of pride at that. "You'd make an awesome Red Ranger," he said. "But you're going to have to train really hard."

"I will."

"And," Carter felt this was a good time to slip this trick in, "you'll need lots of rest."

"Are you just trying to get me to go to sleep?" asked Heather suspiciously.

Too smart for her own good. "Just a bit. I need my sleep too, you know."

"You should go to sleep now," said Heather. "I've got my water gun. It's safe."

Carter smiled. "Thanks, Heather." She lay back down and Carter let himself relax and close his eyes.

*

Something bright was shining into his eyes. Carter tried turning his head to the side. "Morning!" Something small and heavy landed on his chest. "Time for pancakes! You promised!" Carter opened his eyes a crack to see a grinning Heather leaning over him.

He yawned. "I did, didn't I?" He sat up, causing Heather to roll off him. He caught her before she hit the ground and tickled her. She squealed with laughter. He got up and slung her easily over his shoulder. "So I guess I should ask if you want them in funny shapes, huh?"

Heather giggled. "Yes, please!"

"Okay, you go pick out what you want to wear today," he said, placing her on the floor. "I'm going to get dressed and then we make breakfast, deal?"

"Deal!" Heather gave him a sunny grin before darting off towards her room.

Carter, grinning, watched her go for a second before heading to the guest bedroom. He lifted his morpher up and was about to call in for an update when he caught sight of the hall clock. Six thirty in the morning. He chuckled quietly to himself. Kelsey and Joel would kill him if he woke them up this early. He'd wait until after breakfast.

Breakfast was easy. Heather set the table and Carter made great pancakes. Other than the syrup spill, everything was great. Heather wasn't as jumpy as she was the night before, and Chad checked in as they were washing up.

"We're going to be starting up the tunnel system today," he said over the morphers. "Captain Mitchell wants us on standby, but he said that you can concentrate on Heather today."

"Okay," Carter said. "I'm going to try to get a hold of Heather's parents again. If I can't, I'm going to leave them the Aquabase number and I'll take her to the park."

"I'll tell the switchboard to forward any calls to me," said Chad.

Carter smiled. "Thanks, Carter out." He lowered his morpher and glanced at Heather. She was staring at the ceiling, so he followed her gaze. "...How did we get syrup on the ceiling?"

"Dunno." Heather shrugged.

"Huh." He stared at the stain for another minute. "We'll wash it when we get back. Go get ready and I'm going to try to call your Mom and Dad again, okay?"

"Okay," said Heather. "Can you push me on the swings?"

"Sure," he said with a grin. She grinned back and darted for her bedroom. Carter picked up the phone and dialed the contact number Mrs. Giordano had left. Busy signal, again. He made a face and tried the cell phone. Also out. He sighed and called into the Aquabase, setting up the call forwarding.

Heather was waiting patiently by the door. "Mommy and Daddy are still busy?" she asked.

Carter nodded. "Yeah, but we'll get them eventually. Now, ready to go to the park?"

"Yeah," said Heather. She took Carter's hand and they headed out the door together.

She skipped the whole way to the park, telling him stories about her classmates. Carter smiled down at her, letting her swing their hands as they walked along.

"...And then Wally tripped over it. When he hit the ground, he lost a tooth!"

"Ow," said Carter, wincing in sympathy.

"It's okay," said Heather, grinning up at him. "It was just a baby tooth. And his mommy helped him write a note to the tooth fairy, so she still left him money for it."

Carter chuckled as they entered the park. "That was nice of her." Something black ran past them in his peripheral vision. He turned his head quickly, but nothing was there. He slowed his pace, tightening his grip on Heather's hand slightly and pulling her slightly behind him.

"What is it?" she whispered, pressing close to his side.

He motioned for her to be quiet and together they slowly crept up to where he'd seen the black thing. It had gone behind some bushes and he eased up to them, pushing a few branches aside gently and peering through the gap. He swallowed his gasp at seeing a group of Batlings and a large mole-like demon with shovels for hands.

One of the Batlings had a map and they seemed to be looking for something. Carter remembered that all parks had main escape tunnels to the safety bunkers. He looked down at Heather and motioned again for her to be quiet. She bit her lip worriedly, but nodded. Then he lifted his morpher and pressed the buttons in the emergency sequence.

Now they just had to wait for the others to get here. He slowly backed away from the bush, pushing Heather along behind him. The others would bring the Rescue Rover, so they could get Heather out of harm's way. But there were still other people in the park.

He made his way up to a mother with a young boy and girl. "Ma'am?" he said, holding up his morpher. She gasped in recognition. "Pass the word along. You all need to evacuate the park. There's a demon here and people could get hurt."

She nodded vigourously. She turns to her kids. "Jimmy, Katie. Let's go, we need to warn everyone. Hurry!" She shooed them along, grabbing other people as she goes.

Carter turned when he heard the sirens start up. "When the other Rangers get here, I need you to go straight for the Rover," he said to Heather. "Got it?"

Heather nodded seriously, giving him a salute. "Yes, sir."

"What's this? One lonely Ranger?" said the monster, jumping out of the bush and on to the path. It laughed. "This will be too easy." The Batlings spread out in front of it, chittering and waving their swords.

Carter dropped into ready stance, keeping Heather behind him. "Whatever you were up to," he warned, "it's over now."

The demon laughed. "Ha! You think you can stop me? The great Spader?"

Carter raised his morpher. "Lightspeed-" Spader flung out an arm and a shove blade shot towards his head. He ducked, throwing an arm back to keep track of Heather. The sirens got louder. Carter blocked a swing from a Batling and kicked it back. Three more charged and he backed up quickly.

The Rescue Rover sped onto the scene, swerving to an abrupt stop. Dana nearly flew out her door, morpher up. "Lightspeed Rescue!" She landed on the top of a park bench. The morph shield flying out before her, smashing into two of the nearest Batlings. She dove through it, shouting as she went, "Rescue Blaster! Baton mode!"

Dana rolled through the shield, her Baton gliding out of the holster and smashing into the head of a Batling. She kicked the one beside it, whipped the Baton back to block a sword swing and kicked that Batling over the bench.

Carter barely caught the leg of the Batling in front of him. He kicked its supporting knee out and shoved it back. "Heather! Get ready to run!" he snapped. There were three Batlings between them and the Rover. Carter dodged to the side, dragging Heather with him. He raised the morpher and finished the morph call, "Rescue!"

His morph shield shot out, making the Batlings rush backwards to avoid it. He shoved Heather towards the Rover and raced into the shield rushing at him. He raised a fist and punched through the shield, taking out the centre Batling. He swept out the feet of the one beside it and elbowed the third in the face.

He jumped over a Batling that Joel clothes-lined and glanced towards the Rover. Heather was crouched in Dana's seat. He nodded to himself and blocked a Batling blade swinging towards him. He could see Chad going head to head with Spader and he moved to assist.

"Baton mode!" he ordered, whipping his own blaster out. He caught Spader's down swing with his baton. Chad grabbed Spader's other arm. Spader growled and flung them both back. Carter landed with a grunt, dropping his baton.

A Batling suddenly kicked it away and raised its sword. "Blaster mode!" shouted Kelsey as she shot it point blank in the chest. It staggered back as two more came charging from the side.

"Kels," ordered Carter.

"Right. Baton mode!" She charged the first Batling, ignoring the two charging ones. She jumped, kicking it in the chest and dropped her Baton into Carter's waiting hand. He rolled up, slashing at the two charging Batlings. He grabbed one of the Batlings and flipped it over his back, seeing Kelsey roll and pick up his baton out of the corner of his eye.

Carter kicked the other Batling down and backed up until his back hit Kelsey's. There was an angry roar to the side. Spader came staggering towards them, Chad and Joel on his arms and Dana slashing at his chest with two Batons. Carter and Kelsey nodded to each other, and charged, Batons raised. They slashed down at Spader's back simultaneously.

Spader let out another angry roar and flung all five of them back. "I will be back," he snarled. "Make no mistake, Rangers! I will destroy you and blast the entire city to rubble!" He pointed his shovel hands down and tore into the ground, flinging earth every which way and blinding everyone.

Carter swore and ran for the hole. He stopped at the edge, peering in. It was too dark for his normal vision. He quickly tapped his helmet for the thermal scanner. "I'm not getting anything," he said.

Chad shook his head, hand up for his own scanner. "Me either."

Dana swore under her breath and handed one of the Batons she was holding to Chad. "We almost had him."

"He's after the escape tunnels, isn't he?" asked Kelsey. She tossed Carter his Baton at the same time he tossed her hers. They both caught them easily.

Carter nodded. "He was going over some kind of map when I first spotted him."

"We can use that," said Joel brightly. "We've got some sensors on those things, right?"

"For anticipating earthquakes and Megazord battles," came Captain Mitchell's voice over the comm. "Return to base, Rangers. We'll activate the scanners and see if we can't anticipate this Spader's next move."

"Roger," said Carter. He nodded to the rest of the team. "Let's go."

*

Carter rolled his shoulders as they exited the briefing room. "Ranger Grayson?" Carter looked over to the left. One of the new ensigns smiled at him nervously.

Carter glanced at her name tag. "Yes, Ensign Jackson?"

"Sergeant Williams wanted me to tell you that we still have not been able to contact the Giordanos, sir."

Carter sighed. "Keep trying. Eventually, they'll take a break from the hospital and we'll catch them."

"Yes, sir," she said, saluting before returning to her station.

Joel clapped him on the shoulder. "Well, I don't know about you? But I'm starving. Race to you the canteen?"

Carter smiled and shook his head. "I'm going to check on Heather first. I'll bring her with me."

"All right," said Joel. "But if she just wants to hang out in the dorm, lemme know. I'll bring something down for you guys."

"Thanks Joel," Carter said, patting him on the back. He started walking towards the dorm rooms. He really hated having to wait for the monster to come to them, but there wasn't much else they could do at this point. All available sensors were on full alert and security on all the construction zones had been doubled.

On the bright side, it was looking like speeding up the tunnel work would be doable. They'd managed to approve funding to bring in extra crews from Angel Grove to help out. Mariner Bay would have full emergency escape tunnels set up before the end of the year.

Not only would that bring down injuries and deaths from random demon attacks, but there would be less worry about buildings destroyed in friendly fire. With the people safe underground, the Rangers would be able to concentrate on the demonic threats. It would also work as a good evacuation system for non-demonic disasters. Carter smiled to himself. It would make life better for a lot of people.

He keyed open the door to the guys' dorm and looked around for Heather. She was curled up on the sofa, still wearing Carter's Lightspeed Rescue jacket. She was paging through a familiar looking book. Carter chuckled as he sat down beside her. "I see you found my copy of Treasure Island."

Heather looked up at him with a bright grin. "You're back!" She flung her arms around him in a tight hug. "Did you blow up the monster?"

Carter hugged her back. "Not yet, but we'll get him."

"Did you talk to Mommy or Daddy yet?" she asked, sitting back.

"They're still at the hospital, but we're going to keep trying."

"Okay," she said, looking down at the book.

Carter nudged her shoulder with his. "Hey, how's the book?"

"It's great!" she said, grinning up at him. "I want to be a treasure hunter now!"

Carter laughed. "But I thought you wanted to be a Ranger?"

Heather bit her lip, thinking about it. "Maybe I could do both? You're a fire-fighter and a Ranger, right?"

She had a point. "Well, yeah. But what kind of treasure would you hunt if you're a Ranger?"

"Maybe evil treasure?" She smiled hopefully.

"Protecting the world from evil treasure?" Carter pretended to think seriously about that one. "Well, we've had to stop the demons from getting some dangerous crystals a couple of times. That might work."

"Yes!" Heather pumped her fist.

Carter laughed. "So, you hun-" The alarms rang. Captain Mitchell's voice rang over the intercoms, call all the Rangers. "Okay, wait here," he said, resting a hand on Heather's shoulder. "I'm going to send Franklin down to keep you company. All right?"

Heather nodded and he stood up. "Wait, Carter," she said, grabbing his sleeve. "Here, you'll need this." She shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to him.

"Thanks Heather," he said, bending to give her a quick hug.

"Be careful!" she shouted as he ran out the door.

Carter tapped the comm on his morpher. "Sergeant Williams, can you send Lieutenant Brown down to the Ranger quarters? I need him to keep an eye on Heather."

"Yes, sir."

He slipped his jacket on and ran for the Rescue Rover. The others joining in from the various places they'd been in the Aquabase. Captain Mitchell's voice came over the morpher comms. "Spader's been spotted over in the Garden District. Use extreme caution Rangers, we're having trouble with the evacuation process there."

"Understood, sir," said Carter as he nodded to his team, checking that they'd heard. They all nodded in return and Dana tossed him the keys. "Let's move out, Rangers." They slid into their seats, buckling up as the ramp lowered them to the tunnel. Carter started the engine and flipped on the lights.

"The spades are the biggest problem," Chad said.

"But he's weak in the torso," said Dana, turning to look at him. "If we can go for the shoulder joints, we should be able to take him out with the Rescue Bird."

Carter nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

*

They cornered Spader just west of the baseball stadium. He spotted them and let out a snarl. Batlings leapt from the shadows and waved their swords.

Carter glanced at his team lining up. "Ready?"

"Ready," they replied in unison.

"Lightspeed Rescue!" They dropped into ready stance and ducked as Spader immediately blasted shovel blades at them. "Chad. Joel." ordered Carter as he rolled to his feet.

Chad and Joel whipped out their blasters and charged for Spader's arms. Carter turned and kicked a Batling in the stomach. He caught the sword of another one and flipped it over. He pulled his blaster and shot three more down.

Joel yelped as he flew back, smashing into a wall. "Carter!" called Dana as she charged.

"Right. Baton mode!" Dana leapt at Spader's arm, yanking it back. Carter took the opening and slashed into the torso. Spader let out a yell of pain and flung Dana and Chad into Carter. They hit the ground hard.

Joel shot Spader's arms, knocking back his attempted blows. Kelsey rolled under the laser fire and came up swinging with her Baton, slashing and making him spark.

"Come on, guys," said Carter, pushing himself up and tugging Chad with him. He brought his Baton down on Spader's left arm. Chad kicked the right arm. Dana slashed into Spader's torso again.

"Rangers," came Captain Mitchell's voice over the comm. "Concentrate on his hands."

"Right," said Carter, slashing down with his Baton again. Kelsey added her Baton to it.

Chad pulled his Baton and started on the other arm, Joel immediately following suit. Dana focused on bobbing in and out, slashing at Spader's chest and head, keeping him from getting a clear shot of any one.

"Now!" shouted Carter. All five of them brought their Batons down at once.

Spader let out a yell as sparks exploded all over him. He staggered back, holding up his hands. They were nothing but lumps of twisted metal. "You're going to pay for that, Rangers!"

"I don't think so," said Carter. "Rescue Bird!"

The Rescue Bird zoomed onto the scene and into Carter's waiting hands, the others lining up behind him. "Ready?"

"Ready!" said the rest of the team.

"Fire!" The beam shot forward and Spader exploded.

Once the fire had died down, Joel looked over at Carter. "Maybe we'll get lucky and this'll be the first one that they don't make bigger," he said sarcastically.

Kelsey snickered. "Well, he is a lot lower powered than we've been used too. We didn't even need the V Lancers."

There was a louder rumbling and a great rushing of wind. Carter looked up. "So much for that theory," he said drily. The helmet scans were feeding him power read outs; Spader was still pretty low on the scale. "Rescue Zords, mobilize!"

The connection map pops up, and Carter led the way to where the Rescue Train was going to stop. Rushing into their Zords, Carter pulled his blaster handle free as he went. He dropped into his seat and slotted the handle in. "Pyro Rescue One, online!"

"Aqua Rescue Two, online!"

"Aero Rescue Three, online!"

"Haz Rescue Four, ready to go!"

"Med Rescue Five, online!"

"Let's go, guys," said Carter, hitting the gas and guiding Pyro One out of the train car. A projectile warning flashed on the screen and Carter just barely managed to swerve to avoid the giant shovel blade. "Whoa! Watch out!"

He could hear Dana swearing as she started swerving Med Five out of the way of another projectile. "Does your father know you use that kind of language?" asked Joel as Aero Three flew overhead.

"He does now," said Captain Mitchell drily.

Carter shook his head. "Joel, think we can get some cover fire here?"

"On it," Joel said and the sky lit up with blaster fire.

"That's not going to help with the Megazord formation," said Kelsey.

He nodded mostly to himself. "Okay, Chad, get the water cannons going, once we've got a good puddle, Kels, you and I are gonna grab his feet. Joel, get Chad up and ready and keep the cover fire going. Dana, find us a clear spot."

"Right," said the rest of the team in unison.

"Water cannons, firing," said Chad.

Carter pulled up the scans, moving in and activating the ladder arms. Haz Four was coming up along the side, arm extending slowly. "And... now!" He and Kelsey hooked Spader's legs and pulled. Carter gripped the edge of the console as the ground quaked heavily.

"Ready!" said Dana. "Kelsey, get over here!"

"Coming!" said Kelsey, spinning a 180 easily and racing into place.

The sky lit up with Joel's cover fire and Carter stepped on the gas, rolling Pyro One in behind the girls. His screen lit up with Aqua Two's confirmation lock and he activated the ladder arms, pulling Pyro One up into place. His screen lit up green. "Joel!"

"Right there," he said.

The screen lit up with confirmation of Megazord transformation. "All right. We-"

There was a loud explosion and Carter fought the controls, trying to keep the Megazord upright. Spader was upright and snarling.

"Evasive maneuvers to the left!" shouted Chad. The Megazord lurched to the side. The shovel blade missed, but the hull still shuddered from the impact from the debris.

"He's going to strike with the right again!" shouted Joel.

"Hold still," Carter shouted. "I've got an idea! Activating right ladder arm!" The right arm shot out, grabbing Spader's arm. "Now pull him in!"

"Carter- oh!" Dana picked up on the plan. "Kelsey, shift weight for a left punch!"

Kelsey laughed. "Awesome!"

Spader rushed towards them just as the left arm punched out. The right arm let go and Spader staggered back. Then he snarled and rushed them. "Kick!" shouted Chad.

They planted the Megazord's arms on the ground and swung the feet out, smashing them into Spader's face and then flipping over back onto the ground. "Lightspeed Megazord Sabre! Ignite!" The sword locked into place and powered up. They slashed it down fast across Spader's torso. There was a second of silence and then Spader exploded for the second time. Kelsey cheered.

"Good job, Rangers," said Captain Mitchell. "Return to base."

*

The debriefing was nice and short. In no time at all, the Rangers were filing out into the hall. Joel clapped Carter on the back. "So, you and the Junior Ranger going to join us for lunch this time?" he asked.

Carter laughed. "Why don't we go out to the park to eat?"

"Oh, hot dogs," said Dana brightly.

"You could bring Simon along," Kelsey added. "So Heather has someone her age there."

Joel snorted. "We're going to wind up having a whole Junior Ranger team pretty soon," he said sarcastically.

"That's not a bad idea," said Chad, looking around at the rest of them.

Carter nodded. "Yeah, I've been thinking about that, actually. It wasn't so bad for you, right Dana?"

Dana thought about it for a moment. "The worst parts were more because I was missing Ryan," she said slowly.

"Okay, but-" Joel cut himself off and raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the approaching ensign.

"Sir?" she said to Carter. "We've managed to get a hold of Mr. and Mrs. Giordano."

"Great," said Carter. He glanced at his team.

"I'll get Heather," offered Dana.

"And we'll meet you guys at the Rescue Rover," said Joel.

"Okay," Carter said. He gave the ensign an expectant look. She nodded and led the way to the phone. Carter started running through the events he needed to tell Heather's parents about. Hopefully, it wouldn't take too long.

End.


End file.
